Summary: They built it up so much in their minds, waited four years to actually take the leap, and it had been every bit as wonderful as Kate ever imagined. She just hopes that Castle feels the same. SPOILERS FOR 5x01!

Author's Note: Because Kate's insecurity and shyness in the promo just tore my heart to pieces and so I had to write something.

Thanks to Andy for coming up with the title!

Disclaimer: If I owned Castle, I probably wouldn't be procrastinating my school work to write fic.

A Love Unfolding

"So you liked it?"

"Yeah."

"Me too."

Castle smiles gently, takes in her soft features and the shyness in her eyes and the fact that she is sitting in his bed looking at him through her lashes as though his answer means everything to her. His shirt hangs loosely off her shoulders, just a couple buttons holding it together in the front, and he wants to reach out and undo them, strip the fabric from her body, show her again just how much he loves her.

Just like last night.

Except he hesitates, because some small part of his brain is still afraid. Afraid that this is a dream, that at any minute he is going to wake up and this vision of Kate in his bed in his shirt, clutching a cup of coffee and looking at him so adoringly, is going to vanish.

Vanish, never to return, because this just cannot be real. It cannot. She cannot be here right now. Last night cannot have happened. He has spent so long imagining it, dreaming of it, hoping for it, and now that it has become reality, he cannot come to grips with the fact that it actually happened.

Because it was everything he has ever dreamed it would be and more, and dreams like that never come true. He has to have imagined the whole thing, conjured it up in the depths of his mind while the rest of his body slept. And he is obviously still dreaming.

But then she reaches out to cup his jaw, guides him in for another kiss, and he knows then that this is real, because even in his most vivid dreams he never felt the softness of her lips and the warm wetness of her tongue tangling with his and the soft weight of her hand over the rough stubble on his face. She never tasted so delicious, coffee and vanilla melded with the unique flavor that in the last twelve hours he has come to associate with Kate and love and forever.

He has never felt like this.

And in his dreams, she certainly never brought him coffee in bed while wearing only his shirt.

Kate breaks the kiss first, sits back and studies him curiously. The man certainly knows how to kiss, she has proof positive of that from last night. But he seems...distracted. As though something is bothering him. Maybe she is not the only one harboring insecurities this morning.

"Castle?"

He jerks his head up, eyes sliding back into focus. "Huh?"

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," he says quickly with a nod, far too abrupt to be convincing.

She raises an eyebrow.

"It is, really," he promises. "I'm just...in shock?" he offers, unsure. "I can't believe this actually happened."

Kate smiles gently, releasing a puff of air. Apparently she is not the only one finding this hard to grasp. She knows last night was amazing and she cannot recall a time where she felt happier, but at the same time, so much changed so quickly and it is a lot to wrap her head around.

"Me neither."

Castle nods in agreement or understanding, or maybe just because he is at a loss of words but feels as though he should offer some sort of response.

"But you're okay with it?" she asks after a pause, insecurity still evident in her features, and it breaks his heart that she is so unsure, that even now she does not realize that all he wants is her.

Castle reaches out to cup her jaw, both hands framing her face. He kisses her then, pours as much into it as possible because he wants – needs – her to understand that this is everything to him. "I want nothing more than to wake up next to you every morning," he says against her lips, nose nuzzling hers, foreheads pressed together.

The rest of that sentence - for the rest of our lives - is left unspoken, but it is there anyways, written in his eyes, in the way he looks at her, and she feels overwhelmed, enveloped by it. Though oddly not as scared as she thought she might be.

"So now what?" Kate says after a moment. Both hands have come to cradle her coffee mug to her chest, a safe haven of sorts perhaps because things are different now but some things are still the same.

Like coffee.

Now they can actually kiss each other good morning rather than simply exchanging a cup and a smile, but it just seems right to continue with their tradition of caffeine. A silent but meaningful affirmation of their partnership, their love.

Castle shrugs, retrieves his mug from the bedside table and takes a sip, swallows slowly to allow himself a chance to think through his answer.

"Now we continue like always. Except, you know, we go home together at the end of the day and wake up next to each other in the morning. Naked," he adds with a waggle of his eyebrows.

She does not have the heart to tell him that 'continuing like always' is not possible anymore. That they actually do not have to go into the precinct today, or tomorrow, or the next day. She wishes they could, though, not because she regrets her decision but because it would be comforting to know that they can be together and still keep everything else relatively unchanged. That this is really going to work.

Instead, she leans in for another kiss, pushes those thoughts temporarily to the back of her mind. She knows it is only a matter of time before he asks what time she has to go in, but until then she is not going to bring it up. This is their first morning together and it should be perfect and unsoiled by bruises and overstretched muscles and overextended joints and resignations.

It should just be them.

Kate sets her coffee aside and leans back against the pillows and Castle does the same, mimicking her position. She snuggles into him, smiles against his chest as she feels his hand slip beneath the shirt, fingers tracing her ribs, higher and higher.

His other hand finds the buttons and his lips meet hers and the last thought that crosses her mind before she slips back into the bubble of his warmth and passion and love is that this is probably the last first-morning-after that she is ever going to have.

THE END

Thoughts?